Our December favourites | Parties, crafts, and food

Hello my loyal readers – long time, no speak! Or should that be write? Anyhow, it’s been a while. A very long one. I don’t think I’ve written ‘properly’ for over a month. I had planned to get everything crammed in before Christmas (was it a good one, by the way?), and then have a few days off, but neither of those plans went to, well, plan. But, I’m here now.

I realised when I came to write this that for the first time in 18 months; since I began these in fact, I missed a monthly favourites post. The one being, November. I was planning on doing a joint November-December one, but November seems so far behind now, that I thought I’d just start fresh.

I can’t believe we’re half way through January already. Why does time seem to fly once you get older, have children, have a house to run… Because we’re always flying around, probably!

December was a bit of busy month; all of our favourites are Christmas related, which seems a bit odd writing in January, but I love to look back.

A visit to Santa

The last few years we have visited Santa at a local garden centre, so for this time around we thought we would have a change. We decided to head to Brigg Garden Centre for their brand new 45 minute Santa’s Grotto experience. The children saw Santa in a small group, so they didn’t have that personal experience, but it was still magical due to the little touches and the questions asked upon booking & arrival. When we arrived, we were greeted by the elves who showed us to a workshop, and the boys got to make some reindeer food and tree decorations. Before heading to see Santa, the elves led everyone in a sing along of Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer!

When we entered Santa’s grotto, the children were asked to sit on the carpet while Santa told them a story, and then they were able to watch their presents drop down the chimney; Jacob thought that was amazing! Afterwards, they went on a magical train ride. We all had a really fun morning to start the month of festivities!

Christmas performances

Watching the boys’ Christmas performances has become one of my favourite festivities. They were both on the same day, with Jacob’s in the morning and Noah’s in the afternoon. Between the performances, The Husband and I went for a lunch date which was nice, as we don’t get to do things like that very often.

I have no photos to share from the performances as they were zoomed in and blurry, but they both did a great job. Noah’s was a complete surprise as to what the performance was going to be, so when we walked in to see him dressed as a sheep, I might have gotten a bit emotional as he looked so cute!

Christmas parties

We had two Christmas parties to attend this last year. We attended the usual village one for the kids which was great fun, especially with pin the nose on Rudolph!

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We also managed an adult evening out to The Husband’s work Christmas party at a posh golf resort. The food was quite simply delicious, and it felt really good to get all glammed up and glitzy!

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Christmas crafts

What is the month of December without at least one Christmas craft? Especially in this house; it’s one of Jacob’s favourite activities. This time around we made these cute handprint tree decorations. I love the extra long hoof on J’s reindeer! 😀

Christmas dinner

How could this not make it into my December favourites? It is one of the best things about December! Though it’s really just a posh roast dinner, isn’t it? Of course, it doesn’t have to be a big thing, but it’s one of my favourite meals to make a bit special! I used some of the tips from the Hello Fresh guide and it was absolutely amazing, even if I do say so myself…

About Me

I'm Stacey, in my (very) early 30's, from a tiny village in Lincolnshire. I'm a stay at home mum to two crazy boys, and a mental dog. Sharing snippets from our new life living in the country. Mostly blogging lifestyle and food, with some Slimming World thrown in.